Shridhar Chillal:
Shridhar Chillal (born January 29, 1937) is an Indian man from the city of Puna, who held the world record for the longest fingernails ever reached on a single hand, with a combined length of 1000.6 centimeters (358.1 inches). Chillal's longest single nail is his thumbnail, measuring 197.8 centimeters (77.87 inches). He stopped cutting his nails in 1952.
Shridar embarked on his nail-growing journey in 1952 after an incident with one of his teachers. One of his friends had accidentally broken the teacher’s long nail, resulting in Shridar and his friend receiving a beating from the teacher. When they asked why he was so angry, the teacher replied; "unless you grow long nails, you will never understand the kind of care required not to break them".
After that, Shridar and his friend started growing their own nails as a challenge.That challenge set in motion for Shridar a 66-year long obsession with growing the nails on his left hand.
Having these extremely long nails made life difficult for Shridar. For starters, his family disapproved of his mission and refused to wash his clothes. He also found it difficult to find a job and a wife.
However, he eventually became a photographer – using a camera with a customized handle – and went on to marry his brother’s sister-in-law when he was 29 years old. Despite the hardships he encountered with his nails, he enjoyed the attention he received because of them – especially earning his Guinness World Records title.
However, in July 2018, aged 82, Shridhar made the life changing decision to cut off his nails. Shridhar flew to New York and organised the historic cutting, with the promise of displaying the record-breaking nails in their attractions – granting the wish Shridar expressed in 2014 of having his nails displayed in a museum.
Although he felt sad after having his nails cut, Shridar said he was looking forward to being able to travel more easily and meet friends and relatives.
The nails are now on display in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums in New York and Amsterdam.
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